Gas Masks

After Hitler came to power, the British government didn't know what would follow to. In fear of chemical warfare used by the Luftwaffe-the German air force- the government provided gas masks for British civilians in 1939. For nearly a year, these gas masks were used by 75% of "Londoners."

Although the government might have frightened its civilians with talk of chemical warfare, this, I believe, is what made people obey the government's new rule- that all citizens must wear the gas masks when they were outside. In frightening civilians about poison gas and distributing the masks unfairly, this created commotion because the people that did not receive the masks worried they would be in danger of being killed by poison in the air. Because the government did this, I believe it really cared about keeping its civilians and maintaining population. The fact that the government punished those that misplaced or broke their masks by making them pay for the masks only supports that argument as well as the fact that Air Raid Wardens (group created by government) conducted monthly inspections of gas masks. Post Office pillar boxes were given a new coating of paint that would detect  gas. This made it easier for Gas Identification Squads, which were a group of chemists, to see if the gas in the air was poisonous. The fact that the British Government enforced that people wear this mask, show that they wanted to protect their people. I don't think that the British government should have inflicted greater punishment on the people not carrying their gas masks because if the people wanted to save their lives, they would have listened to the government because all it was trying to do was protect its people from somewhat avoidable death.